Willow Creek Christmas

by Graison, Lily

  Keri nodded and walked out of the store when he opened the door. The sun was bright, the snow nearly gone now, but the air was still cold. Keri wasted no time returning to the wagon. She slowed her steps and glanced at the school. The desire to go back inside was strong but she borrowed trouble doing it. She knew Aaron and Sophie would be fine but having them right by her side for so long made it hard to give them up, even for a few hours.

  Stopping by the wagon, she saw two chairs now sitting in the back. Were they for the kitchen table? She hid a smile and turned when the sound of paper rattling caught her attention. Noah was opening the package he'd carried from the store. He lifted the top item from inside the brown paper and turned, unfolding it, and Keri was sure her heart stopped beating when she saw what it was.

  The green coat he held was the finest she'd ever seen. She raised her eyes to his, silently asking if it was for her, and her throat ached painfully when he closed the distance between them and held it open.

  Noah Lloyd had gone above and beyond what anyone else had ever done for them. He'd given them a place to stay that was warm and dry, fed them until their bellies were full, bought her dresses to replace the torn, dingy one she'd been wearing and arranged for Aaron and Sophie Ann to have decent things as well. Now, he'd bought her a coat. One look at his face, at the understanding in his eyes, and tears filled her own. She swallowed past the tight knot forming in her throat and willed the tears away, focusing her attention on the coat instead of Noah.

  Light colored fur lined the inside of the dark green wool. She could see it around the cuff of the sleeves and along the high collar and hemline, too. When Noah nodded at her, prompting her to slip her arms inside, she did so while her heart pounded against her rib cage. Warmth enveloped her instantly, the fur rich and soft. She turned and met his gaze. "You didn't have…"

  "I know," he said, cutting her off before she could finish. "You needed coats." His gaze ran the length of her. "Button that up." He turned back to the wagon, reached again for the paper, and the tears she'd been trying so desperately to hold back slid past her lashes when he pulled a smaller version of her coat, blue instead of green, and a sheepskin coat much like the one he was wearing, out of the package. It was small enough for Aaron, the blue wool perfect for Sophie Ann. He draped the coats across his arm, picked the remaining items up and turned, handing her a fur lined bonnet and a fur hand muff that matched her coat. She saw gloves and hats for the kids as he walked past her to the school.

  The moment he was out of earshot, Keri let out a string of sobs that caused her entire body to hurt. She scrubbed her face, wiping away her tears as fast as they fell, and tried to get her emotions in check before he came back out. She'd let those tears come when she was alone. The last thing she wanted to do was to embarrass him by falling apart. Acts of kindness didn't seem like something Noah Lloyd did on a daily basis and why he was doing them for her puzzled her more than anything in her life ever had.

  When he came back outside, she turned, faced the wagon, and wiped her face dry one last time. She wondered if she could get back into the wagon without his help but he was at her side before she could try. He lifted her up, folded the paper the coats were in and laid it, and the string that held the package together in the back, then rounded the side of the wagon and climbed up.

  He never said a word, never even looked her way, and Keri was glad for it. She didn't know what to say anyway. How did you express your gratitude for something so outrageously decadent? The coat was expensive. Any fool could see that. The wool was thick, the fur soft against her skin. Where had he gotten the money to pay for it?

  "That bonnet does you little good if you don't wear it."

  Keri turned her head to look at him. He held her gaze for a few moments before looking back at the road. His hair was still as wild and out of control as always, the beard too long, too thick, but despite his gruff and standoffish manner when they met, he now gave them a home. He'd stopped scowling at them, too.

  So who was this man that provided for them without question and asked for nothing in return but a hot, cooked meal?

  Putting the bonnet on, Keri tied the silk ribbon under her chin and slipped her hands into the fur muff. She'd never owned anything so beautiful in all her life. She felt the tears burning her eyes again and blinked them away.

  For whatever reason, Noah Lloyd was giving her everything she and the kids needed. She wasn't going to question his motives. He may not even have any, but she knew she'd never be able to repay his kindness.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Damn. Noah readjusted his hat and resisted the urge to sigh. He didn't know she would cry. Hell, the thought never even crossed his mind. He'd given Isabelle gifts by the dozens. She'd never cried. She'd squealed loud enough to pierce his ear drums and ran about town showing every friend she had, and some she didn't, what he'd given her, but not once had she cried. Those expensive baubles he bought her were worth tears, in his opinion, but she'd never shed one. Keri's gift, nothing more than a coat, had produced an onslaught of them and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

  She sniffled again. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Her face was red and puffy, her cheeks tear streaked, but she looked pretty as a picture in that fancy coat and bonnet. He was glad he'd let Mrs. Jenkins talk him into it, now. He'd known the woman had been trying to make a bigger sale, and she did, but he'd admit, grudgingly of course, that she'd been right. He just wished it hadn't taken the coats so long to come in. Keri and those kids had been over a week without anything to keep them warm except those old blankets.

  The trip back home was made in silence. Not that he thought it wouldn't have been. It wasn't as if they had much to talk about anyway and he was okay with that. He was used to silence. After years of listening to women prattle on about anything and everything, it was nice to be near one who didn't find it necessary to blather on.

  He pulled the wagon into the yard, set the brake and jumped to the ground, rounded the wagon and helped Keri down. Their gazes clashed briefly, enough for him to see her give him another of those tiny smiles, and he watched her walk away, the back and forth sway of her hips not going unnoticed.

  Shaking his head, he put her out of his mind, led the horse to the barn and unhitched him from the wagon, then put the animal back in his stall. Lifting the chairs from the back of the wagon, he carried them outside and looked them over again, making sure Mr. Brighton, the hotel and restaurant owner, hadn't sold him broken chairs. Satisfied there were no cracks in the wood, he carried them into the house.

  The blankets around the bed moved when he shut the front door, Keri stepping out from behind them. She glanced at him, then at the chairs. "The mercantile sells furniture?"

  "They do from a catalog, but these came from the restaurant." He carried the chairs into the kitchen and pulled the table away from the wall, setting the chairs around it. It would be cramped with four people eating there but at least no one would have to sit on the floor now.

  "Think we'll all fit?"

  She'd read his mind. He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess we'll find out this evening."

  He left her in the kitchen, headed back to the barn, and sat on the bale of hay next to the wall and stared at the animals. He felt a bit cowardly hiding out in the barn instead of staying inside but at least here he didn't feel compelled to try and think of things to say.

  They had nothing in common, he and Keri. They knew nothing about each other that would steer a conversation, so what was the point of sitting inside where it was warm? Besides, being inside the drafty barn kept his mind off the fact that since the kids were in school, he and Keri were very much alone and would be every day. A fact he'd been trying to ignore since leaving town.

  * * * *

  The uncomfortable silence made lunch unbearable. Keri picked at her food and wondered why Noah was suddenly so standoffish. He'd seemed fine this morning but the moment they got back home, he ran off to the barn and took his time coming back
inside.

  She glanced up at him. His whole face was obscured by all that wild hair, and she wondered what he looked like underneath it all. Not that it mattered. The way someone looked said very little about what sort of person they were. She'd seen beautiful women with souls so ugly it tainted every aspect of them. Her own husband, John, hadn't been a handsome man but he was good to her. He'd worked hard, provided for them without complaint, and gave them everything they needed. He never hit her or raised his voice. She couldn't say the same for his brother, Robert. He'd been the worst sort of monster and it still amazed her he and John were even related.

  The ticking of the clock in the other room seemed loud for some reason and the silence was enough to drive her to distraction. After hearing Aaron and Sophie Ann's voice every day, all day, she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to the silence.

  She took a sip of her water and glanced up at Noah. "Where are you from?" she asked. Even the sound of her own voice was better than nothing. "Your accent tells me somewhere down South."

  Noah looked startled at her question and was quiet so long she wasn't sure he'd answer. When he finally said, "Charleston," she smiled. "Oh, I hear it's beautiful there."

  "It was."

  He said nothing more and Keri held back a smile. If she knew nothing else about Noah Lloyd, it was that he was a man of very few words. His short answers to everything proved that. "Did you live near the ocean?"

  "Yes."

  She took another sip of her water. "I saw a drawing of the ocean once. I hoped when we found Peter I'd get a chance to see it in person." Noah continued to eat without commenting. "What made you settle in the middle of nowhere, Montana?"

  He stiffened, his fork raised halfway to his mouth. His eyes were downcast but Keri could see the tension the question caused. His entire body looked stiff. She realized the reason he left Charleston for Montana was none of her business, and she imagined he wanted to tell her just that.

  It was obvious by his lack of answers that he wasn't in the mood to talk to her. He rarely did. Just because Aaron and Sophie Ann weren't there didn't mean he'd spend his day entertaining her. And by the look of him, sitting there having lunch with her wasn't something he wanted to be doing either.

  "I'm sorry," she said, quietly. "Your life is none of my business. I shouldn't have pried. Forget I said anything."

  She continued to pick at her food, keeping her remaining questions to herself as her thoughts strayed to Aaron and Sophie Ann again. She wondered if they were all right, if they'd made new friends, and if they missed her as much as she missed them. Sighing, she stood and set her still full plate by the sink. She'd finish it later if she got hungry before supper.

  When she turned, she ran into Noah, crashing into his muscled chest. She let out a startled gasp, both of them taking a step away from the other. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't realize you'd stood up." He was holding his empty plate. She took it from him, then turned her back to him again.

  She listened for his retreating footsteps but they never came. With her back still to him, she wondered what he was doing just standing there and blinked in surprise when he said, "I was injured in the war. There wasn't anything left for me when I got back to Charleston so I left."

  His quiet statement held no emotion, his voice flat, but when she glanced over her shoulder at him, his eyes held every ounce of pain he felt. She knew without asking that the war was how he got that scar. John had more than his share of them, too. Nothing as noticeable as Noah's but there just the same.

  She glanced at those black leather gloves he never took off. She'd bet money that scar on his face wasn't his only injury. What exactly had happened to him? She met his eyes again. His physical scars must have been horrific for him to hide under years worth of facial hair and keep gloves on twenty-four hours a day. She wasn't about to ask him, though. He didn't strike her as the sharing type of person. He was reserved and kept to himself and the silence was something she was going to have to get used to even if it made for very long days.

  He left without another word and she had hours yet before it would be time to get Aaron and Sophie. Cleaning the kitchen would be the highlight of her day, it seemed.

  The privacy she gained by not having the kids underfoot all day, and Noah avoiding the house, did give her the opportunity to indulge herself a bit. She gathered a bucket of warm water and stepped behind the blankets hanging around the bed, stripped out of her clothes, and spent the next ten minutes lathering her body in the sweet smelling soap Noah had given her. When she was dressed again, she headed to the kitchen and washed her hair, the scent of the soap filling the air around her. She closed her eyes and breathed it in as she took a drying cloth to her short locks, scrubbing at her head to dry the water from her hair.

  The curls were in a wild riot by the time she'd finished and finger-combing the strands did little for them. She sat on the hearth, letting the heat from the fire remove any remaining dampness from her hair and jumped when a loud knock rapped on the door. She stared at it, wondering why Noah was knocking.

  Crossing the room, she opened the door. A man she'd never seen stood staring back at her. Her heart gave one powerful thump against her ribcage at seeing him.

  His clothes were as ragged as the ones she'd been wearing when Noah found her and the stench coming off him told her he'd been as unfortunate as she had in the past few months. "Can I help you?"

  "Afternoon, ma'am." He removed his bowler hat and smiled, his dingy teeth causing a wash of revulsion through her system. "I'm wondering if I might bother you for a drink o' water?" He glanced over her shoulder into the cabin. "I been walking since the sun come up and for once, its warmed me up more than I would have thought on such a cold day."

  Keri's pulse was leaping. She wasn't even sure why. The man looked innocent enough but he made her uneasy. She glanced toward the barn. The door was closed tight, but the desire to call out to Noah was so strong she nearly choked on the need to do so.

  The man shifted on his feet. He looked to be in his thirties, his skin dark and leathery from too much sunlight. His gaze was darting around the interior of the cabin and the uneasy feeling she had only grew. Lifting her chin in what she hoped was a confident stance, she gripped the edge of the door. "Wait here," she said. "I'll bring you a glass."

  She shut the door and hurried to the kitchen, filling a glass, and taking a quick look out the small window above the sink. The barn door was still closed. She went to turn but a wavering shadow on the side of the building drew her attention. She narrowed her eyes, then widened them when she saw a man round the corner of the barn and creep along the front. He held a revolver in his right hand and she gasped, the cup she held slipping from her fingers, the sound of breaking glass loud in the stillness.

  Keri spun on her heel and swallowed a shocked gasp when she saw the man she'd left on the stoop. He was standing in the kitchen doorway grinning at her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  "It's a cold one out today." The man who'd invited himself into the cabin turned and looked away from the doorway. He removed his coat, tossing it to the floor along with his hat and glanced around the room again, stuck his thumbs behind his suspender straps and nodded his head. "Mighty fine home you got here. Nice and cozy." He looked back at her, his gaze skating down her body before climbing back up and landing on her breasts. "Your man build it himself?"

  Keri didn't answer. Couldn't have if she'd tried. Her heart was hammering inside her chest, her nerves rattled enough to cause her entire body to shake.

  She had no idea what these men wanted but the gleam in this one's eyes, and the way his gaze kept lingering on her breasts, caused bile to churn in her stomach. She'd seen that same look a time or two on Robert's face, the memory of him taking her against her will still vivid in her mind. She'd not fought him after that first time. Not when he'd threatened her with things so vile, she'd not been able to eat for days afterwards.

  The man motioned to the main room with his head. "
Come on out here," he said. "I don't want you at my back."

  Keri did as he asked only because she needed to be closer to the door. The moment she stepped into the main room, he came toward her. She sidestepped him, her gaze darting to the door as she moved farther away from it. Could she make it outside without him stopping her?

  "What's your name, pretty lady?"

  Keri swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tried to take even breaths. Her heart was racing, her thoughts on Noah. "You best get on out of here."

  He grinned, his broken, brown teeth only adding to her disgust. "Got no intentions on leaving, darlin'. Once my friend takes care of your man out there in the barn, we're all going to have us a nice relaxin' evening." He crossed to the fireplace, picked up a few of the items Noah had sitting on the mantel, then turned back to face her. His eyes were roaming again, the look in them easily readable. "What say you and me get better acquainted while we wait on Hershel to come in."

  His voice echoed in Keri's head, a barrage of images playing inside her mind's eye, and she took several hasty steps back when he advanced on her. She couldn’t breathe as she watched him, her heart beating out a fast tattoo against her ribcage as she looked toward the door again. Fear stole her voice, her throat aching with the need to yell for Noah before remembering the man she'd seen creeping toward the barn door. Hershel, this one had called him. Would Noah see him in time or would the man kill him? Fear he might caused the back of her eyes to burn.

  The blankets hanging around the bed brushed against her back and Keri stopped, grabbed the material in her hands and sucked in a few harsh breaths. "Stay where you are," she said. "Just take what you want and be gone."